The Mansfield Tiger SR high football program has always been as flexible as the stock market. There’s not a rhythm or reason for the ups and downs, it has always just panned out that way. The bulls and bears have played an equal role in the program’s market history. Of course, every armchair quarterback seems to have a negative reason as to why. It’s the coach, the players aren’t playing hard enough, the lack of talent, etc. But if you go by the historical stats in the program, you’ll see a totally different story. If you follow it really close though, you see Mansfield is primed for a long-term spike in the gridiron marketplace.
Since 2006, Mansfield football has gone 79-93 overall and 42-70 in the 3A conference. The program has seen four different coaches in that fifteen-year period who all combined for five winning seasons. Tiger fans have seen each coach’s run start out with a lul but slowly pick up. Coach Jason Gill started out with an 18-14 record in his first three years, Coach Brandon Elmore went 11-19 in his first three years, Craig Bentley had a 12-20 record in his first three years, and so far, Coach Tim Cothran currently sits at 10-20 going into his fourth season. Three of the four coaches made the state playoffs in their tenure. All had nearly the same kind of start and all were quality coaches. The catch may be longevity. Elmore and Bentley had short stints with the program so what they could’ve done will never be known. Gill stayed with the Tigers for six years and landed an overall 43-27 winning record along with a conference championship and state playoff appearances. Even with a couple of rough years, Coach Cothran still currently has one winning season, a State Playoff appearance notched in his belt, and has already said that he wants to be a Mansfield Tiger until the good Lord calls him home. Therefore the longevity of having a quality coach staying with the program for a stretch of time very well may be in place. So the coach’s desire to stick around makes the market rise a little with that stock in place.
School enrollment numbers and team numbers have also been an issue for the football program. Enrollment numbers have kept the Mansfield football program on the lower edge of the 3A. This makes the Tigers one of the smallest 3A football programs in the entire state while the competition on their schedules remains fierce. This means team numbers and depth on the roster are vital. When Coach Bentley came to Mansfield in 2016-17, he walked into the locker room and stared at 16 players in the spring, many of which were young inexperienced sophomores. Back to back 2-8 seasons could’ve crushed the program, but it didn’t. The program’s roster slowly grew until Bentley’s final year when the Tigers went 8-4 and made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Tigers faced the same low numbers and experience in 2019 through 2021 where they saw just a handful of seniors and a team of mostly young inexperienced talent. This season, that previous inexperience has moved forward to top-notch experience with numbers as the Tigers are looking at suiting up 12 seniors with a roster nearing 25 players. Those are spring numbers that can still grow in size over the summer. Therefore the market rises a little more with those stocks in place.
The 3A is never a walk in the park for any program. The 3A-1 on the other hand, well that is the Central Park in the 3A. Charleston, Booneville, Cedarville, Hackett, Lavaca, Greenland, and West Fork are the gridiron gang that joins Mansfield in the 3A-1. Almost every program in the 3A-1, including Mansfield, has made the State Playoffs in the last three years which means it’s literally anyone’s game on any given year. This season though could be a rebuilding year for a lot of those programs. Many programs were senior-heavy in 2021 which means they’ll be replacing vital players in multiple areas on the field. The Tigers though are the only team to return 9 starters on both offense and defense. Mansfield will return four of their five offensive linemen along with their entire backfield from a 2021 team who roared back into contention late in 2021. Their defense also bowed up late in 2021. Proof of that was the difference in their two games against Cedarville. The Pirates hung 42 points on the Tigers in their first meeting but in the second go-around, Mansfield held the Pirates high-powered offense to merely 14 points. Stocks again increase exponentially in the market with that information in tow.
Could there be another spike in the upcoming Mansfield gridiron market? The forecast is looking favorable. Markets rise and fall, but it’s being consistent in the market that makes a program rich. Mansfield has a coach that wants to be nothing but a Tiger and has a history of success both at Mansfield and in previous programs. They have the talent and experience for 2022 to kickstart a red fire in the program for years to come. This group is ready to invest every ounce they have into the program. The question is, who’s ready to buy stocks in the Mansfield Tigers football program before their shares explode in the market?
